Saturday 15 December 2007
Why are greedy tax cheats accorded protected species status?
Adele Horin in The Sydney Morning Herald (December 15), has rightfully pointed out the slanted position taken by authorities when addressing the issue of moneys missing from the public purse.
Horin takes a look at how welfare cheats and tax cheats are treated in Australia.
Welfare cheats are soft targets so they get a hammering but tax cheats, who are a protected species, get easy runs home.
In part, Horin wrote:
If tax cheats were hounded as assiduously as welfare cheats, Australia would be better off. But under the old regime, welfare cheats - so-called - were pursued to the ends of the Earth while tax cheats slid under the radar.
Millions of dollars were poured into detecting welfare fraud while in the last years of the Howard government one-third as much was spent tracking down tax cheats, according to budget papers.
The inequity led Professor John Braithwaite, of the Australian National University, an expert on corporate crime, to remark last year that the DPP had taken "soft, easy cases and they are the frauds of poor people. The frauds of sophisticated rich people who are aggressively defended by the best lawyers money can buy deliver lower success rates [to the DPP]."
The government stood to recoup far more from tax cheats than from welfare cheats. On economic grounds alone, it should have ramped up the fight against tax avoiders. According to budget papers, for every dollar spent chasing tax avoiders, the government would recoup $7.53 compared with only $1.94 from the welfare fraudsters. In the end, fewer than 3500 people are convicted of welfare fraud in a year from a population of 6.5 million social security recipients.
Read the entire article "Tax dodgers laughing as the poor are hounded" at:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/tax-dodgers-laughing-as-the-poor-are-hounded/2007/12/14/1197568262862.html
Unfortunately, Horin didn't include superannuation cheats in her article. Although they didn't get a mention, superannuation cheats are out there in big numbers.
So, you ask, "Who are the superannuation cheats?"
Answer: These cheats are thieving employers who do not make the mandatory super contributions for their employees.
"Who's responsible for ensuring employers do the right thing and meet their responsibilities and pay their employees' super?"
Answer: The Australian Taxation Office.
"If the ATO doesn't address the issue of tax cheats properly how can it be expected to address the problem of super cheats?"
Answer: To use the words of Horin, "more hounding, and more tabloid headlines, would not go astray."
PS:
Memo to all employees - contact your super fund and check to see that your employer has paid your super in full. Unfortunately, many employees are being dudded every pay period. Their pay slips show how much super should be going to their fund BUT their employers are pocketing it for themselves.
Horin takes a look at how welfare cheats and tax cheats are treated in Australia.
Welfare cheats are soft targets so they get a hammering but tax cheats, who are a protected species, get easy runs home.
In part, Horin wrote:
If tax cheats were hounded as assiduously as welfare cheats, Australia would be better off. But under the old regime, welfare cheats - so-called - were pursued to the ends of the Earth while tax cheats slid under the radar.
Millions of dollars were poured into detecting welfare fraud while in the last years of the Howard government one-third as much was spent tracking down tax cheats, according to budget papers.
The inequity led Professor John Braithwaite, of the Australian National University, an expert on corporate crime, to remark last year that the DPP had taken "soft, easy cases and they are the frauds of poor people. The frauds of sophisticated rich people who are aggressively defended by the best lawyers money can buy deliver lower success rates [to the DPP]."
The government stood to recoup far more from tax cheats than from welfare cheats. On economic grounds alone, it should have ramped up the fight against tax avoiders. According to budget papers, for every dollar spent chasing tax avoiders, the government would recoup $7.53 compared with only $1.94 from the welfare fraudsters. In the end, fewer than 3500 people are convicted of welfare fraud in a year from a population of 6.5 million social security recipients.
Read the entire article "Tax dodgers laughing as the poor are hounded" at:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/tax-dodgers-laughing-as-the-poor-are-hounded/2007/12/14/1197568262862.html
Unfortunately, Horin didn't include superannuation cheats in her article. Although they didn't get a mention, superannuation cheats are out there in big numbers.
So, you ask, "Who are the superannuation cheats?"
Answer: These cheats are thieving employers who do not make the mandatory super contributions for their employees.
"Who's responsible for ensuring employers do the right thing and meet their responsibilities and pay their employees' super?"
Answer: The Australian Taxation Office.
"If the ATO doesn't address the issue of tax cheats properly how can it be expected to address the problem of super cheats?"
Answer: To use the words of Horin, "more hounding, and more tabloid headlines, would not go astray."
PS:
Memo to all employees - contact your super fund and check to see that your employer has paid your super in full. Unfortunately, many employees are being dudded every pay period. Their pay slips show how much super should be going to their fund BUT their employers are pocketing it for themselves.
You can change the racing silks but the nag remains a nag and not a thoroughbred
The post-election Liberals yet again showing signs of desperation.
"Queensland Liberal Senator Ian Macdonald, the former Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation, today urged the Nationals to join the Liberals to form a united conservative party.
He said it was a "farce" that the two parties pretend to be different.
It's not the first merger proposal between the two parties, with then prime minister John Howard and Nationals leader Mark Vaile blocking a proposal from Queensland Nationals leader Lawrence Springborg and his Liberal counterpart Bob Quinn in 2006."
The Australian article yesterday:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22924634-12377,00.html
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22924634-12377,00.html
I would have thought that the Nationals only chance to regain ground over the next three years lay in donning their own distinctive colours, distancing themselves from the now discredited Liberal Party parliamentary nags and running candidates against their current coalition partner at the 2010 federal election.
As it now stands the Liberals frequently treat them as an irrelevancy - so why shouldn't voters.
Stakes raised in opposition to Japanese whale hunt
Australia is looking to the Rudd Government to begin active protection of whales in Australian territorial waters.
"The Humane Society International is seeking a Federal Court injunction to stop the Japanese whalers and says the public will expect strong action from the Rudd Government if the group is successful.
"They will be required to stop the hunt," HSI spokeswoman Nicola Beynon said to ABC radio.
"The traditional means for stopping the hunt would be to intercept the ships and forcibly stop the hunt.
"And if the Government's not prepared to do that, the Humane Society International and the Australian public will be expecting them to find some other means of stopping the hunt."
The Coalition squibs it.
"While the Coalition opposes the whale hunt, Dr Nelson – the former defence minister – says the proposal to use the navy to gather evidence on Japan's whalers raises more questions that it answers.
And he is worried it could harm strong security and trade ties with Japan."
News.com.au article yesterday:
Friday 14 December 2007
A blast from the past
Just for the record, this snap shows Chris Gulaptis (middle), who was the National Party's unsuccessful candidate for Page in the 2007 Federal election, providing 'advice' to the current State MP for Clarence Steve Candsell (left) and the former Federal MP for Page Ian Causley.
Whatever Chris said, it wasn't worth a cracker.
Whatever Chris said, it wasn't worth a cracker.
Coalition still in terminal post-election spiral?
The Liberal Party has been locked in its own internal blame game at federal level and is tearing itself apart at state level in Western Australia, Queensland and the ACT, with the Liberals ACT leader Bill Sefaniak being the most recent victim to lose his head on the block.
Continuing Federal Liberal leadership speculation indicates the blame game is not about to end anytime soon.
The Age article today:
http://news.theage.com.au/turnbull-denies-leadership-challenge/20071214-1h29.html
Here is an short honour role of the principal blame gamers.
Andrew Robb:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/12/13/2117529.htm?section=australia
Wilson Tuckey:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/12/12/2117120.htm?section=justin
Alexander Downer:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22895466-33435,00.html
Brian Loughnane:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22916201-2702,00.html
Malcolm Turnbull:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/libs-blessed-to-have-turnbull-nelson/2007/12/02/1196530481020.html
Peter Costello:
http://news.sbs.com.au/worldnewsaustralia/costello_blames_howard_for_election_loss_136671
Tony Abbott:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/libs-turn-on-howard/2007/11/26/1196036812217.html
Christopher Pyne and Nick Minchin:
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/articles/2007/11/26/1196036846690.html
Continuing Federal Liberal leadership speculation indicates the blame game is not about to end anytime soon.
The Age article today:
http://news.theage.com.au/turnbull-denies-leadership-challenge/20071214-1h29.html
Here is an short honour role of the principal blame gamers.
Andrew Robb:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/12/13/2117529.htm?section=australia
Wilson Tuckey:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/12/12/2117120.htm?section=justin
Alexander Downer:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22895466-33435,00.html
Brian Loughnane:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22916201-2702,00.html
Malcolm Turnbull:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/libs-blessed-to-have-turnbull-nelson/2007/12/02/1196530481020.html
Peter Costello:
http://news.sbs.com.au/worldnewsaustralia/costello_blames_howard_for_election_loss_136671
Tony Abbott:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/libs-turn-on-howard/2007/11/26/1196036812217.html
Christopher Pyne and Nick Minchin:
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/articles/2007/11/26/1196036846690.html
Labels:
Liberal Party of Australia,
politics
Akerman plays fast and loose with the truth again
Under the guise of an opinion piece, The Daily Telegraph's Piers Akerman misrepresents the history of the David Hick's matter and tries to smear Labor MP Maxine McKew by association using an incredibly long bow.
Given the subject of his blog was the imminent release of Hicks, why on earth was it relevant to mention that Maxine McKew received favourable comment from GetUp! during the election campaign?
It seems poor Piers is still unable to come to terms with his Liberal Party hero's fall from grace and is indulging in a little nasty and misdirected payback.
The Daily Telegraph on Wednesday:
Labels:
federal government,
media,
politics
Noel Pearson tries to claw back credibility and influence
Noel Pearson made a real goose of himself during the recent federal election campaign and lost much of his credibility, when he used every opportunity to buttress the Howard Government and uttered statements regarding the Labor Party such as "Understand the heartless snake here. If you harbour any hope that these buggers are going to do anything courageous in relation to Indigenous affairs, then you're living in an illusion."
ABC News Noel Pearson on election eve:
The Australian and Pearson on Kevin Rudd:
The Howard Government's subsequent resounding electoral loss left Noel Pearson out on a limb.
It is sad to see him in the media attempting to use the tragic circumstances of a rape case in order to revive his own political agenda concerning 'passive welfare' and reassert his influence with federal government. It may have been wiser to do a little quiet, behind the scenes fence building with the new Rudd Government instead.
There has been extensive media coverage of the Court's judgment in the Arakun rape case.
The Australian on edited sentencing submission in The Queen v Names Withheld:
The Courier Mail on Indictment No.146 of 2007 Cairns District Court;
Labels:
Australian society,
politics
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